70

patrons

$808

per month

Searching to make a painting that is imposing, eternal, and immovable!

As an artist, I am always trying to improve and challenge
myself with paintings that are of increasing complexity and importance. In January
2017, I traveled with videographer Chloe to Los
Angeles from NYC to meet with eleven Survivors of Auschwitz so that we could
take my current series of paintings of Survivors of the Shoah to the next
level. This newest painting will be a life-sized representation of all eleven
Survivors of Auschwitz and will be approximately 18 feet long and 8 feet high.

Documenting. Chloe and I have been filming interviews with all of the Survivors in
the series in order to document their lives and inspiring words. We are also
going to film each step of the process in the creation of this large painting in
order to educate about the artistic journey as well as the journeys of the
Survivors.

I need your support. Working through a two-year project like this is risk for an artist and for this
reason I need your help to make this happen. This painting is not a
commissioned painting. There is no guarantee of its sale, only a guarantee of
its impact. The scale, complexity and meaning of this painting will make it a
piece of art that cannot be ignored. When completed, there will be a painting
as well as a film that will educate and inspire. At this moment, I do have
some funding from the USC Fisher Museum of Art and the USC Shoah Foundation as well as an Exhibition planned for
the Spring of 2019 at the Fisher Museum. In these early stages I have been running into a lot of
costs that I hadn't considered in advance; crating, shipping, video editing,
web site development, writing, travel and lodging expenses. Your support will
help me to make all of these expenses disappear! Most importantly, your support
will let me know that you believe in this project and that you want to be a
part of this meaningful and timely initiative. In the spring of 2019, we can
all celebrate together at the Fisher Museum of Art opening, you guys are all
invited!!

Meeting with Survivors of Auschwitz at the Museum of Tolerance. photo by Andy Romanoff

This is the digital painting thumbnail for composition purposes. [painted in ArtRage on the iPad Pro]

There is a rawness to painting that makes its portrayal of the human
condition more relatable to the viewer than the mechanical replication of the
same subject in video or photography. These mediums place a barrier between the
viewer and the subject, whereas the richness and tactile feel of a painting
breaks through to us as humans. These works are handmade, imperfect, life-sized
and speak to what the survivor has been through, what they’ve overcome, and the
hard work in their lives after the atrocities. These paintings speak to us in a
deeply connected way and inspire with each survivor’s strength.

Working on "Love and Resilience, Louise and Lazar Farkas." oil on panel, life-sized. The number of survivors from the war–both who simply lived through it
and those who suffered at its most terrible expressions–has dwindled to the low
hundreds of thousands, and that number shrinks daily. The stories of Holocaust
survivors, their suffering and the lives they’ve carved out for themselves,
deserve to be told. They remind all societies to counter not just
anti-Semitism, but all forms of intolerance. This intimate face of the
Holocaust teaches us how to protect, promote and defend human rights in today’s
world.

My Connection. In 1917, a young Murray Kassan immigrated to the United States, escaping ethnic
cleansing on the border of the Ukraine and Romania by the Cossacks. Murray was
my grandfather, and his story of survival is a vague unfocused legend in my
family for many reasons. When my father was fifteen years old, Murray was
estranged from the family and my father never saw him again. He passed away
when I was very little and I never got to meet him, his story of survival is
now only fragmented memories.

Painting for me is also my way of understanding the world around me, my way of
connecting, and my excuse to interact and learn. In this project, it’s my
personal way of connecting to my grandfather’s lost story. With every survivor’s
story that I hear and record into a painting, I feel that I move closer to the
connection with my grandfather that I never had. My brush paints a link between
us.

These paintings represent the perseverance and the strength of the human
spirit. I endeavor to respect and show the dignity of each survivor and tell
his or her story.

Goals

Once I hit 1200 I will be able to afford for Chloe and I to visit Auschwitz in order to photograph and sketch walls for reference for the background for the large painting.

1 of 1

Searching to make a painting that is imposing, eternal, and immovable!

As an artist, I am always trying to improve and challenge
myself with paintings that are of increasing complexity and importance. In January
2017, I traveled with videographer Chloe to Los
Angeles from NYC to meet with eleven Survivors of Auschwitz so that we could
take my current series of paintings of Survivors of the Shoah to the next
level. This newest painting will be a life-sized representation of all eleven
Survivors of Auschwitz and will be approximately 18 feet long and 8 feet high.

Documenting. Chloe and I have been filming interviews with all of the Survivors in
the series in order to document their lives and inspiring words. We are also
going to film each step of the process in the creation of this large painting in
order to educate about the artistic journey as well as the journeys of the
Survivors.

I need your support. Working through a two-year project like this is risk for an artist and for this
reason I need your help to make this happen. This painting is not a
commissioned painting. There is no guarantee of its sale, only a guarantee of
its impact. The scale, complexity and meaning of this painting will make it a
piece of art that cannot be ignored. When completed, there will be a painting
as well as a film that will educate and inspire. At this moment, I do have
some funding from the USC Fisher Museum of Art and the USC Shoah Foundation as well as an Exhibition planned for
the Spring of 2019 at the Fisher Museum. In these early stages I have been running into a lot of
costs that I hadn't considered in advance; crating, shipping, video editing,
web site development, writing, travel and lodging expenses. Your support will
help me to make all of these expenses disappear! Most importantly, your support
will let me know that you believe in this project and that you want to be a
part of this meaningful and timely initiative. In the spring of 2019, we can
all celebrate together at the Fisher Museum of Art opening, you guys are all
invited!!

Meeting with Survivors of Auschwitz at the Museum of Tolerance. photo by Andy Romanoff

This is the digital painting thumbnail for composition purposes. [painted in ArtRage on the iPad Pro]

There is a rawness to painting that makes its portrayal of the human
condition more relatable to the viewer than the mechanical replication of the
same subject in video or photography. These mediums place a barrier between the
viewer and the subject, whereas the richness and tactile feel of a painting
breaks through to us as humans. These works are handmade, imperfect, life-sized
and speak to what the survivor has been through, what they’ve overcome, and the
hard work in their lives after the atrocities. These paintings speak to us in a
deeply connected way and inspire with each survivor’s strength.

Working on "Love and Resilience, Louise and Lazar Farkas." oil on panel, life-sized. The number of survivors from the war–both who simply lived through it
and those who suffered at its most terrible expressions–has dwindled to the low
hundreds of thousands, and that number shrinks daily. The stories of Holocaust
survivors, their suffering and the lives they’ve carved out for themselves,
deserve to be told. They remind all societies to counter not just
anti-Semitism, but all forms of intolerance. This intimate face of the
Holocaust teaches us how to protect, promote and defend human rights in today’s
world.

My Connection. In 1917, a young Murray Kassan immigrated to the United States, escaping ethnic
cleansing on the border of the Ukraine and Romania by the Cossacks. Murray was
my grandfather, and his story of survival is a vague unfocused legend in my
family for many reasons. When my father was fifteen years old, Murray was
estranged from the family and my father never saw him again. He passed away
when I was very little and I never got to meet him, his story of survival is
now only fragmented memories.

Painting for me is also my way of understanding the world around me, my way of
connecting, and my excuse to interact and learn. In this project, it’s my
personal way of connecting to my grandfather’s lost story. With every survivor’s
story that I hear and record into a painting, I feel that I move closer to the
connection with my grandfather that I never had. My brush paints a link between
us.

These paintings represent the perseverance and the strength of the human
spirit. I endeavor to respect and show the dignity of each survivor and tell
his or her story.